From prostrating in prayer multiple times a day to the pre-fix preparations of an IV drug user,
dopamine does not discriminate. It will present itself in any habitual actions or patterns of
expectation. You can think of dopamine as a driver, that does not mind which way it’s driving,
as long as it continues to drive.
Though dopamine is most often associated with a feeling of reward and satisfaction, it’s not
always equated with positive, warm fuzzy satisfaction. Therefore, fire and brimstone sermons
can also trigger dopamine, as can shame and guilt and other less favorable life experiences.
They activate the brain’s reward neural circuits, including the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex,
amygdala, insula, and the nucleus accumbent. There, now you have names for the culprits
who make it painfully appealing to heap guilt and shame on yourself… and worry so much
(worry tricks your brain into thinking you’re doing something about your problems.)
In addiction, the dopamine flow can be enhanced, through associated rituals surrounding
addiction. Certain activities, attending certain events, certain accompanying emotions (shame
spirals, for example) can all contribute to the dopamine pull.
This is one reason being in an isolated supportive environment, such as a treatment center, or
new living space, with positive support, is so important to new recovery. It helps recover all
rituals that were previously associated with getting high, and use them for their dopamine
cultivating power, while detaching them from the negative association of the fix.
One of the ways in which effective treatment addresses Dopamine imbalance is through the
consistent building of new rituals, new patterns and habits, and new daily schedules for each
individual. In Treatment, supported habits bypass past expectations, and engrain new avenues
for Dopamine production through healthy expectation and motivation.
It takes a lot of support to firmly establish these new rituals in the face of past experience that
there is only one path for the dopamine/satisfaction- continued substance abuse, or negative
addictive patterns.
The daily efforts required for building consistent rituals might seem tedious at first: morning
group, daily counseling, daily meditation, exercise, meetings, etc. But through repetition, they
begin to build consistent dopamine release. They can offer more and more dopamine
satisfaction as time goes by.
Eat, Sleep, Wake, Repeat
Repeated daily rituals have a profound effect on the dopamine satisfaction factor. A healthy
individual might not even grasp how 3 daily meals, consistent wake and sleep times, and their
daily repeated paths through reality contribute to their sense of well-being.
Many of us are familiar with the power of the mind, both for favorable conditions, and to bring
us down. It has been said by inspiring motivators that first you open a door in your mind, and
then a door opens in your external reality. And no where perhaps is this more relevant than in
the case of creating new repeated patterns of behavior.
The mind is pattern-seeking. It wants the familiar. It may put up a fight for old, familiar
patterns, for old familiar dopamine pathways, but the door to new habits is a door to a new,
better feeling path. It is a welcome, refreshing, sigh of relief, for those that keep the door open.
And how do we keep the dopamine door open, allowing that satisfying flow? The basics may
seem challenging enough when first entering a program of recovery: adequate rest, wholesome
meals, and cleansing daily rituals (showers/baths/lots of hydration- water is a healing balm.)
A few other Rituals can exponentially increase the daily dopamine flow:
-Gratitude. Searching for aspects of life to be grateful for increases both dopamine and
serotonin. And you don’t actually have to find what you’re truly grateful for, you just have to
begin to look.
-Labeling. Consciously identifying what emotion is being experienced helps to activate the
part of the brain involved in greater dopamine production, and lessons the arousal in the limbic
system (where the fight or flight stress response occurs.)
-Meditation, studies have shown meditation increases just about every positive brain chemical
and physical healing precursor available. So don’t just do something, sit there.
…And the list goes on. In a diverse world, with so many seeking to shed negative addictive
patterns, there are dopamine boosting rituals for all. An effective Treatment Program can help
you identify what habits, rituals, and steps are most easily accessible for you. Because the
road to recovery is wide, and the avenues for healing are plenty, and if you start where you are,
you can go as far as the dopamine will carry you.
